Bye week a welcome break for Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals head into the bye week on a five-game losing streak and the schedule ahead doesn’t get any easier.

Not only has Arizona struggled to find ways to win over the past five weeks, they’ve struggled to get players back from injury. This is the perfect time to take a break, recharge physically and mentally and re-evaluate this team.

Head coach Ken Whisenhunt feels this break is coming at a good time for everybody.

“Sure, especially the younger guys, you can see that in a lot of their eyes right now to this point,” he said. “It’s been nine and five; fourteen games, that’s a college season for them and they’ve still got a stretch of games to come yet.”

The team is enjoying some time away from the practice field, but there is still work that’s being done during the down time.

“It gives us a chance to work on some of our inconsistencies, to look at our scheme, what we’re doing, look at our players that we’re doing it with, a lot of those things,” said Whisenhunt. “Plus it gives us a chance to get healthier, that’s a big thing.”

The health of the Cardinals has definitely been an issue with John Skelton, Kevin Kolb, Ryan Williams, Beanie Wells, Todd Heap, Levi Brown and Greg Toler missing significant time or suffering season-ending injuries.

After nine weeks of the regular season, a lot of people are scratching their heads in confusion after a 4-0 start was followed by five straight losses due to the combination of poor play and injuries.

Coach Whisenhunt referenced the inconsistencies that have plagued this team and he knows that the staff has some work to do over the weekend.

“You know there’s tendencies for what we’re doing on both sides of the ball and how we can make those more balanced or what we can do, whether it’s the scheme that better fits the certain personnel that we’re trying to get done on both sides of the ball,” he said.

When asked whether or not the staff also benefits from the bye week and the break, Whisenhunt was pretty clear.

“I think where we are right now after nine weeks, absolutely.”

Whisenhunt told reporters on Wednesday after the team’s final practice that the coaching staff will be in the office Thursday and Friday but will take some time away from the facility over the weekend. The players and coaches return to practice Monday before heading to Atlanta to face the undefeated Falcons on Sunday.